


Eleutheromania

by aykayem



Series: Fifty-two words [10]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-28
Updated: 2014-03-28
Packaged: 2018-01-17 07:30:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1379167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aykayem/pseuds/aykayem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco's told that he's being set up with one of the Greengrass sisters, and that terrifies him beyond words.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eleutheromania

  
_eleutheromania_  
(n.) an intense and irresistible desire for freedom

Theo got the letter in the early morning, and immediately upon receiving it, he had a feeling that Draco hadn't actually slept the night before. When he opened it, shooing the owl off of his desk, he effectively received confirmation of that thought: the letter was hastily written, but had been crossed out innumerable times. It looked as though Draco had started it one way, opted against it, rewritten it, scratched that out, rewritten it again, only to scratch that out too. It was an absolute mess, and hell to read.

A laugh tore from his lips before he could help it, mostly at how absolutely ridiculous the whole thing was. It was clear his best friend was in something of a panic, but with all the scratched out words, it was almost impossible to figure out what. It took one, then two read-throughs to get a grasp of it, and only then did Theo let the papers fall back down to the desk.

Written out between the lines of panic was a rough idea of what was going on: Narcissa was finally looking into matchmaking. It might have been too soon after the war for anything real to come of it, but that didn't seem to be stopping her. It had to happen sooner or later, after all: the Malfoys needed an heir. Theo figured they couldn't really be choosy at this point, not with the rumours and everything still fluttering around like obnoxious little birds twittering nastily in people's ears. Personally, he wouldn't stand for anyone who tried to bad-mouth the three of them (well, two - Lucius could probably fight his own battles there) in his presence, but he understood why they tended to just keep their heads down.

Still. What probably surprised Theo the most was that Draco's first bit of matchmaking was apparently to take place with one of the Greengrass girls. Not even the one they were in classes with - her little sister.

_Is she even graduated yet?_ Theo wrote back, scribbling the words on a fresh sheet of parchment, ignoring how his hand smudged the letters slightly. _I don't think she's graduated. I think your mother is setting you up with a girl who's sixteen years old._

He could already imagine the letter he'd get back.

It took barely an hour before that same owl was perching again on the edge of his desk, giving him the evil eye. Theo rolled his eyes, taking the new letter off of her leg and rolling it flat.

_She's almost seventeen._

Oh, like that made it better.

_And there is nothing I dread more than marrying a Greengrass. You saw the looks Daphne used to give me when I'd look at her._

That was mostly because Draco had a tendency to appreciate just how short she rolled her skirt. There were never any wolf-whistles, but he hadn't exactly made the fact that he was looking subtle. Nor did he hide the fact that he rather liked to look at her chest.

_Can you imagine the looks I'd get if I were dating her younger sister?_

Oh yes, he definitely could. If looks could kill, Draco Malfoy would be dead a thousand times over. Especially once the relationship got to the point of him not keeping his hands to himself, which - according to Theo's experiences, at least - would last all of twenty minutes.

He skimmed through the rest of the letter, barely stifling his chuckles the rest of the way before scribbling out another reply and sending it off.

The back-and-forthing continued into the afternoon, when Draco finally just gave up on whatever he was actually supposed to do with his time, and Floo'd his way over, stepping through the fireplace in the study where Theo had draped himself unceremoniously over an entire couch. As per the usual, he began talking immediately.

"I can't do this. I really, _really_ can't do this."

"What, go on a date with the poor girl?" Theo asked, barely keeping a straight face as he kept reading the book resting against his lap. A smirk was threatening to crack his mouth wide, and keeping his eyes on the book made it that much easier to stop it. Or hide it, if nothing else. "She's pretty, at least."

"My mother actually seems to want me to marry her. I'm eighteen, Theo. I can't get _married_ ," Draco protested, his voice lifting up an octave as he crossed the room, dropping himself into an overstuffed chair.

"I don't know. I think you probably can. You're of age. She's almost there-"

Theo barely managed to duck the book that Draco threw at him, stifling another laugh.

"Seriously, mate, you need to calm down about the whole thing," he went on, snapping his book shut on a bookmark before casting a lazy glance over.

"I can't _calm down_. My mother wants me to get married."

"Did she actually say 'Draco Lucius Malfoy, you're getting married'? Or are you reading into things?"

"She didn't need to say anything. It was implied in the look she gave me when she told me Astoria was coming over tomorrow for dinner," Draco replied, panic written clear across his features.

"So it's dinner. What's the big deal?"

"The _big deal_ , Theo, is that dinner at my parents' house is hardly a casual first date."

"It also means that you could probably give her a couple glasses of wine and see about convincing her to stay the night."

"I'm not sleeping with her. I don't want to date her. I don't want to _anything_ with her."

Theo's heart skipped a little, though nothing outwardly changed. He merely arched one brow, looking vaguely amused. "So. Looks like you have something of a dilemma, then. What're you going to do?"

"Bitch at you for a while until the problem goes away."

Theo laughed. Not just a little bit, but a lot: the kind that resulted in doubling over. It was a bit put on, but it made Draco glare at him, and that was good enough.

"Prick."

"Says you."

Draco rolled his eyes hard, slumping back into the chair with a sigh. "I just want to-"

"Be free? Like a bird?"

"Fuck you."

"You've already done that," Theo idly pointed out, turning his attention back to his book as Draco rolled his eyes again.

"Do you at least _somewhat_ see where I'm coming from here?"

"Yeah," Theo confirmed, turning the page with a soft flutter. "You're too young to get married. You don't want to be tied down. You want to continue sowing your wild oats." _Preferably with me_ went unsaid.

"I wouldn't put it that way."

"No, but that's what you want to do. You don't want to date."

"What if she doesn't like me?"

"We've been over this, mate. What's not to like? And for that matter, what happened to that insufferable ego I always had to deal with? Where did that go?"

Draco scoffed. "It died beneath a pile of rubble at Hogwarts."

"Too soon," Theo replied, clicking his tongue disdainfully. Once again, grey eyes rolled skyward. "Look, just give it a go. Maybe she'll realise she doesn't want to date someone whose head is so swollen with hot air that he can't fit through doorways. Or maybe she'll decide she doesn't like tattoos." With that, he gave his left forearm a pointed little waggle. "It could fall through after the one dinner. You never know."

"Maybe I'll just hide out here, and you can lie and say you haven't seen me in a while. I'll be hiding in your bed if you need me," Draco replied, a small sneer of disdain tugging at his mouth. A chuckle escaped the brunet, and he eyed his best friend thoughtfully.

"As much as I don't like lying to your mother, you hiding in my bed might be worth it."

"Right. So I'll meet you up there, then," Draco drawled, smirking a little as he pushed himself up from the chair. It threatened to swallow him up, making the standing up process far more difficult than it should have been.

Theo glanced to him thoughtfully, sizing him up before smirking back. "You owe me, Malfoy."

"I'll start repaying the debt once we're upstairs."

It didn't take Theo long to get up there.


End file.
